Acknowledging one’s sins is pat of the process of repentance, or turning away from them.

The key word in the assigned reading from Luke 15 is repentance. Jesus answers criticisms for welcoming and dining with sinners by telling parables of being lost then found and welcomed. Sheep were essential to the livelihood of shepherds in verses 3-6, just as the small amount of money in verses 8 and 9 probably constituted the woman’s entire savings. In each case a penitent sinner is as precious to God as the lost sheep is to the shepherd and the ten silver coins are to the woman. Heavenly celebration ensues after the return of the newly penitent. This theme continues in verses 11-32, traditionally the Parable of the Prodigal Son, although the loving father and the dutiful yet resentful older brother are equally compelling characters.

I detect a difference in the portrayal of God in Luke 15 and Exodus 32. God seeks the lost in two parables in Luke 15 and waits for the return of the penitent in the third parable. In Exodus 32, however, Moses has to persuade God not to destroy the Israelites. Granted, they probably did not know the error of their ways, but the God of Luke 15 would have responded differently than the God of Exodus 32. The God of Luke 15 would have, like the father in the Parable of the Prodigal Son (for lack of a better name), waited for them to realize their sins then repent.

In universe, then, did the ten silver coins know that they were lost? The Prodigal Son came to his senses in time. And the lost sheep was an especially stupid animal. Yet all of these were precious in Luke 15.

I acknowledge that both judgment and mercy exist in God. The balance of them is beyond my purview. Yet I rely on divine mercy, which I understand to be vast. That mercy, extended to me, requires much of me. I am, for example, to act mercifully toward others and to respond gratefully to God. Grace is free, not cheap.

Principles are easy to state, but coming to understand how best to apply them in daily life is frequently difficult. A well-meaning person might, out of faithfulness and compassion, act in such a way as to make a bad situation worse accidentally. The most effective method of helping might not be obvious to one. What is a person who seeks to apply the Golden Rule properly to do? May you, O reader, find the proper answers in your circumstances.

May each of us, precious in the sight of God, remain faithful, repent when we depart from the proper path, and function as the most effective agents of divine mercy possible, by grace.